


Detention in the Forbidden Forest

by IvaliceForever



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Pandora Hearts, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Gen, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-06-28 22:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15716568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvaliceForever/pseuds/IvaliceForever
Summary: Professor Shirogane is in charge of detention at Hogwarts for the night.





	1. Caticorn in the Forest

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a prompt exchange with my cousin. The initial prompt was: "Professor Shirogane is in charge of detention for the week in the Forbidden Forest."
> 
> As a note for Pandora Hearts fans: This is waaaay post series, Gil is a professor and took the name Baskerville and found Break's 100-year cycle reincarnation and adopted him.
> 
> Note for Harry Potter fans: I just wanted Harry as a professor mentioned. 
> 
> Note to all: This story is not to be taken seriously. It was for fun and will remain for fun. The fun is how PH got lopped in here anyhow XD

Detention, the worst invention any student has ever faced. Takeshi Shirogane, newly appointed Professor of Muggle Studies remembered it well. At least with muggle detention there was no chance of incidents that could harm the students normally. Now, here he was leading a group of students who had managed to cross Professor Potter AND Professor Baskerville (it wasn’t hard to irritate Gilbert though) for different reasons. 

 

The group consisted of a total of five students. Lancelot (Lance) Arnaz, Keith Kogane, Katie Holt (please call me ‘Pidge’), Hunk Garret and…how on Earth did Allura Masrani end up in detention?

 

“Okay. I’m not going to ask what you guy did to all end up in my detention tonight. We’re just going to get down to it. We’re going into the Forbidden Forest to assist Hagrid’s investigation of what has been disturbing the Hippogriff flock. You will all stay together and there will be absolutely NO house squabbles and NO fighting one another or I am adding onto your detention. You are all students of the same school and you will act like it.”

 

The only two he knew needed that warning were Keith and Lance. They had a rocky start and always tried to out-do the other ever since. Keith was a Slytherin who didn’t really get along with anyone in his house save for Lotor Kresnik and Pidge. Lotor himself was an odd fit for Slytherin at times. Lance on the other hand was a Gryffindor with a great knack for making a good impression most of the time. Lance was a flirtatious guy by nature. Where Keith kept to himself, Lance was more open and out-going (even if sometimes Shiro wished he’d tone it down).

 

Hunk (was that the kid’s actual name?) was a super friendly and sweet Hufflepuff who was almost always around Pidge. Shiro has had the boy’s cooking before due to a class project where everyone had to prepare a muggle meal the muggle way. They had made a contest out of it and the entire class said Hunk would make someone a happy significant other one day muggle or wizard. Pidge was a fan of muggle technology versus magic and could be seen trying to combine to the two to make new tech. Pidge was incredibly ambitious, probably how she ended up in Slytherin. 

 

“What? Do we really get more detention for even say…an accidental quip?”

 

“Why would the professor say it if he didn’t mean it?” Keith responded automatically to Lance’s inquiry. Shiro just knew what would follow.

 

“Shut up Keith. I was talking to the professor.”

 

“Mr. Arnaz, Mr.Kogane is right. I meant it when I said I won’t accept any fighting today. Now, both of you stay on opposite sides of Hunk.” Shiro said, eyes narrow in a way that meant he was dead serious. Keith actually had to look away from him a bit nervously. Shiro knew that Keith knew better than to test his patience, Lance…he wasn’t entirely sure. Shiro viewed Keith as a younger brother but due to his being a teacher he couldn’t always be as supportive as he’d like.

 

“Look at that!”

 

Everyone’s gaze followed Pidge’s eyes as she pointed at a peculiar creature that was staring at them. It looked like an ordinary house cat save for the single spiral horn protruding from it’s head. The cat in question was quite plump and it’s fur was various shades of violet. Shiro hadn’t seen a caticorn in well…ever. Either a certain student was transfiguring his poor cat again or they had stumbled upon a new subspecies of unicorn.

 

“Uh guys…maybe that’s what been scaring the hippogriffs? I mean it is kind of intimidating.”

 

“Hunk, it’s a overfed cat with a horn. How could that possibly scare a whole flock of hippogriffs?” Allura finally spoked up, already on her knees petting the plump fuzzy caticorn. The creature was purring loudly under her affection.

 

“Allura has a point. Now, an albino rabbit I could see.” Keith replied, approaching the cat as well. Shiro could see Lance try to discern if it was worth admitting he agreed with Keith. Shiro was a bit concerned that nearly all his students believed the muggle comedy’s portrayal of bunnies was truth. It didn’t help when you had Professor Baskerville insisting the story had a grain of truth (though Gilbert AND his adopted son Xerxes both agreed cats were worse).

 

“Then we really do have to go into the forest? Can’t we like just scrub the castle halls or something?”

 

“Hunk, c’mon buddy. Where is your sense of adventure?” Lance asked, fired up at the prospect of finding out what was in the forest.

 

“My sense of adventure is back in the Grand Hall with supper!”

 

Shiro sighed, it would be a long night.


	2. Rendezvous and the Approaching Entity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon arriving at Hagrid's, the detention students and their instructor make plans to apprehend what has been harassing the hippogriffs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short but I was feeling inspired after a lovely dream.

When they finally arrived at the rendezvous point to meet Hagrid, Shiro felt relief fill his body. It was no longer just him and the kids. Already he’d had to give Lance and Keith a second day’s detention but he had special plans for that particular session. Hagrid was a welcome sight.

 

“Sorry we took so long Hagrid, we got side-tracked. Say hello to Catinecker.”

 

Hagrid laughed heartily at the sight of the pudgy cat in Allura’s arms. Shiro had given up trying to tell her she couldn’t keep it and agreed to talk to the headmaster since she didn’t have a pet of her own yet. Catinecker was very docile and friendly.

 

“Nice to know that he’s found some friendly company. Fang didn’t much like ‘im. We’re looking fer’ something a lot smaller than a stray caticorn and much more scary to boot. What I managed to gather is we’re dealing with a rare kind of snake. Harmless to people but dangerous to anything with even a trace of bird in it.”

 

“No problem,” Lance grinned, “we just find this snake, relocate it and we’re done.”

 

“Not so fast Lance. I’ve read about these snakes. They’re called Chaincoil Rattlers. They’re really hard to see at night because their scales are dark with chainlink patterns all around except for their heads. If that’s what we’re dealing with…how do we find it?” Pidge chimed, looking dubiously between the two adults. This whole situations seemed ill planned.

 

“How do we find it and catch it without getting lost?”

 

“Easy Keith, we split into two groups and stay close to your group leaders. Lance, Allura, andPidge you’re with me. Keith, you and Hunk will go with Hagrid. We’ll use a spell that create the illusion of a bird to lure the snake into the open. Remember, their bite does hurt but won’t do any lasting harm to people. Try to catch it by the back of its skull though.” Shiro said, laying his plan out for the students. The only one who looked nervous was Keith who had bad experience when it came to snakes.

 

Lance for all that he dug at Keith and provoked him into the same knew that Keith looked apprehensive from the moment it was revealed that it was a snake. Lance always made sure he never jabbed at that particular issue with the Slytherin student. Keith returned the favor by not jabbing at him over his obsession with garlicky foods. If Keith had garlic knots, he was actually known to offer some to Lance rather than taunt him with it.

 

“Chillax Keith, we’ll probably find it first.”

 

Instead of a rising to the bait, the raven-haired teen offered a small thankful smile. Keith genuinely appreciated Lance trying to bait him out of the tension. Then both groups turned at the sound of rustling foliage. Something was coming but no one was ready for what stepped out of the bushes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you know what is approaching the group feel free to drop your guesses.


	3. Child in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which snakes do not appear and Lance gets a wrong impression.

“Guys…I think we’re doomed! Are we gonna die?!”

 

“Hunk, no one is going to die. Calm down.” Allura said, gently placing a hand on the bulky boy’s shoulder. It was hard to discern what was approaching but she could tell it was smaller than they were, even Pidge.

 

Hagrid approached the rustling, settling himself between it and the students beside Shiro but blinked when he saw Shiro sigh and walk straight into the bushes. Nobody else moved, too nervous untilShiro stood up with a VERY well known little menace in his arms. Xerxes Baskerville, the most mischievous little shit to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts without being a Weasley!

 

“What the heck is Professor Baskerville’s kid doing way out here alone?”

 

“Careful Lance, Xerxes is still young enough he may parrot you. Though it is a good question. Xerxes, why aren’t you in the castle?” Shiro asked the sleepy boy. Xerxes only smiled and giggled into his longer than needed sleeves (the jacket was outdated but clearly well taken care of).

 

“Catching some vermin. Saw Rat!”

 

_Note to self, have a word with Gilbert about his son’s proclivity of not making sense. Rats are common as pets and usually don’t leave Hogwarts either._

 

“You’re sure you saw a rat?”

 

“I don’t think he meant a real rat.” Keith spoke up, walking closer now that it was certain there wasn’t a threat (Keith hadn’t had any issues with the rumored ‘troublesome tott’ yet. It was also clear from the way the kid said the word it was more like a name.

 

“You sure Keith? I mean he said ‘Saw rat’.” 

 

“I’m sure Lance. Think about how he said it. Xerxes is old enough not to mess up sentences that short. I think he meant someone named Rat. The kid also sounds happy about it.”

 

While Lance, Shiro and Keith were discussing the child in question, Pidge saw somethingin the forest and shrieked. Darting behind Hunk with her want pointed at the perpetrator, she sighed with relief to see it was only Professor Baskerville and…a bleached version of himself?

 

“Sorry if we startled you Miss Holt. I was trying to find Xerxes and found my brother instead.”

 

“Come now Gilbert, I was just having fun. I didn’t think he’d actually follow me when I went to deal with the Chaincoil Rattlers. I also didn’t know that students were also on the hunt.” The blond man with mismatched eyes said.

“Rat!”

 

Shiro had to set Xerxes down, the boy was wriggling around too much and then watched with a laugh as he ran over and latched onto the newcomer’s legs. Gilbert looked like he didn’t know whether to scold the child or laugh at his brother’s clear unhappiness.

 

“How many times do I have to ask you to call me Uncle? Oh well, at least you’re happy to see me.”

 

“Vincent, you realize he calls you that because the first time you met you were dressed as that Disney character Rattigan for a costume party.” Gilbert said with a laugh before finally freeing his brother’s legs by picking up his son.

 

“So, we don’t have to go looking for snakes?” Keith asked hopefully, not even feeling like questioning Vincent’s appearance at the school.

 

“Nope. Gilbert and I took care of them. They’re on their way to a new home in the morning. I’ve been rude. I am Vincent Baskerville, starting tomorrow I am a stand-in for Professor Flitwick while he goes on a much-needed holiday.”

 

“Rat…did you bring sweets?” Xerxes chimed, looking at his uncle almost expectantly despite his nearly shy way of asking. Gil smiled, it was rare that Xerxes didn’t want sweets but it was still new to hear him ask an uncle he’s met five times in his short six years alive. Vincent did however, ALWAYS have sweets for Xerxes (sometimes he thought it was his way of connecting the present to the past).

 

“I did bring you sweets but you can’t have them until tomorrow or you won’t sleep well. You don’t want to have kitty nightmares do you?”

 

Xerxes was quick to shake his head ‘no’ then slid free of his father to run over to Hunk. Hunk knew exactly what the trouble-maker wanted and just grinned as he hugged the small boy and laughed as everyone was startled at being included in the hugging spree.

 

“Uh…why’s he hugging all of us? I mean we don’t really know the kid.”

 

“The reason Mr. Arnaz, is that Xerxes always hugs whoever is in the area before bed time. While he wasn’t always a fan of physical contact, when he’s sleepy he has a need for hugs and a lot of the time I can’t always do that for him so I’d take him with me to a teacher’s meeting so he can hug everyone then let him sleep on the Headmistress’s sofa.” Professor Baskerville said before collecting his yawning child from where he’d latched onto Lance.

 

Lance thought about how often he’d taken his family’s hugs for granted before Hogwarts. There wasn’t a day he didn’t miss his mother’s hugs and especially his siblings. It was a relief to know that a little kid being raised by a single dad in a school found a way to get any hugs he could need. Lance wondered what it would be like to spend a day with this seemingly sweet little guy.


	4. Runaway Child and Lotor's Terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith have another night of detention and must spend it babysitting Xerxes Baskerville. Can they keep up with the six-year-old boy or will he prove too much for them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on Keith and Lance being saddled with Xerxes and then the focus shifts to stay on Xerxes.

Lance no longer believed that Xerxes was a sweet little guy. In the span of ten minutes both he and Keith had lost the kid and found a trail of candy wrappers leading into a cabinet to a dead end. Professor Baskerville was SO going to kill them!

 

“How the heck can this kid be so sneaky?! It’s like dealing with Pidge’s intelligence in a smaller package and put to more nefarious uses!”

 

“Lance, that’s really not helping. I’m sure we’ll find him before our detention is over. Merlin’s Beard, is that him on the icebox?!” Keith couldn’t believe what he’s just seen. Somehow, Xerxes had climbed out of a higher cupboard and was now seated on the old fashioned icebox, happilyeating a cupcake he needed both hands to hold.

 

“Dude…that’s just not fair. We’re not allowed to actually practice magic except small charms and he can use cabinets to travel?”

 

Xerxes looked down at his ‘babysitters’ with glee, they clearly realized they were outmatched and were panicking. They were almost as funny as Marchy (his designation for Reim Rainsworth, his best friend who was a few years older and would start his first year at Hogwarts in two years.) when he got mad at him for eating sweets before supper. They only got to see each other on holidays now with his papa so busy teaching.

 

“Xerxes, just stay right there and we’ll get you down.”

 

Didn’t these older boys know that he wasn’t in any danger? Very few things frightened him and those that did he actively avoided. Darkness didn’t scare him, neither did heights. The only thing that really set him on edge was—

 

“Mreow.”

 

Keith noticed the giggling had ceased and that their charge was tensing up. Something was upsetting the child. Following his line of sight, he saw what Xerxes was looking at. Catinecker was in the Baskerville rooms with them. 

 

“Lance, you keep trying to get him down okay? I need to get Catinecker out of here.”

 

“Uh…yeah I’d do that but the kid’s already gone.” Lance replied, gulping. If he could travel between cabinets that weren’t supposedly connected, the kid could literally turn up anywhere in the castle. Looking at the caticorn…they noticed Catinecker was gone as well when their attention returned to the caticorn. GREAT.

 

_** ~PH-HP-VLD~ ** _

 

Xerxes took a shaky breath as he huddled in the cupboard, hoping the cat would go away and leave him alone. Had the older boys gotten rid of it yet? Swallowing thickly, he opened the nearest door in his dark pocket space. While even he didn’t know how it worked, it was fun to travel in odd ways. When the door opened…he realized he was in the wrong room. This was a hallway, not the rooms that belonged to him and Papa. At least there was no cat in the area. Slowly sliding out of the door to the wardrobe he’d exited, he looked around to figure out where he was.

 

It looked to be one of the dormitories but Xerxes hadn’t been to this one before. There weren’t many things to discern which house he’d wandered into until he saw a familiar face: Lotor. Lotor was reading a book about ancient myths. Xerxes could only tell because the book looked old and ‘Myths’ was written in bold letters big enough he could read it. It seemed like Lotor hadn’t yet spotted him. A playful smirk slid onto his face as he scurried into a shadow, now certain he was in the Slytherin common area or the library.

 

Lotor could feel a shift in the room, an easy feat when you were one of the few night owls in the entire Slytherin House. Someone was in the room with him…yet he saw nobody at all. That was odd. It was still too early for Keith to be back from detention and Katie had gone to bed early with a migraine after he gave her some tea designed to target them specifically by the famous apothecary Neville Longbottom (Lotor looked up to the man for his kind demeanor and genuine desire to help others). Closing his book, Lotor set it on the table and rose from his seat to get a better look around the common area. The only thing that was off was the open wardrobe. The wardrobe itself was used mainly as storage for students to keep their winter coats when they didn’t have room in their trunks.

 

_Looks like Hunk’s little friend has wandered from his babysitters. Xerxes is either getting sloppy which is unlikely, or he hadn’t intended to sneak in here to begin with. I’d best find him and return him to Keith and Lance or they’ll have detention for losing him next. Actually, Professor Baskerville might have mercy on them as even he has trouble always keeping tabs on his rather…eccentric son._

 

“Xerxes, I know you’re in here. You can come out willingly and have the last bit of my chocolate bar or I can contact your father.”

 

Xerxes pouted but came out of hiding, crawling out from under the large recliner near the fireplace. Lotor usually humored him, but when he promised to interrupt Papa’s work he meant business. At least he would get compensation for cutting the game short. Stopping a few feat in front of Lotor, he huffed and extended his hand expectantly.

 

Lotor chuckled as he surrendered an unopened bar of muggle chocolate from Germany. Xerxes’s expression snapped from fuming pout to awe-struck uncertainty as he hesitantly accepted the bar.

 

“You said ‘last bit’. This one is new.”

 

“Consider it a reward for not making me hunt you down. Now, why did you run away from Keith and Lance? Did they accidentally upset you like the last person who had to babysit for detention?” Lotor asked, picking the smaller snow-haired boy up as he broke into the chocolate bar.

 

“No. Ran from a cat.”

That made sense he supposed. Xerxes’s debilitating fear of cats was well known to both Hunk and himself. They had found the child hyperventilating and crying in a corridor, pinned beneath a large and heavy cat that belonged to Professor Elliot Rainsworth. Lotor was fairly certain that had the cat’s owner not realized the whereabouts of his cat that his kid brother would be short a best friend. It had taken Hunk an hour to calm the trembling mass down enough to breathe properly.

 

“Well, we should get you back to them before the teachers adjourn for the night. They’re probably panicking or bickering over who lost you. If the cat is still there I’ll get rid of it okay?”

 

“Why?”

 

Lotor sighed heavily. Xerxes had this weird belief that everything had a catch involving personal gain. What could make a child this small that suspicious of others he wondered. It must have been one bad previous life for the boy. According to myths, souls were reborn into a 100 year cycle when they passed on and sometimes memories from a vivid or favorite life could stick. It had happened to himself and all the Paladins after all, not that anyone but himself and Allura remembered much of that life.

 

“I’m helping you because I know you’re scared of cats. I swear on Emily that I do not have an ulterior motive.”

 

Xerxes relaxed, smiling sleepily as he pulled his doll out of his coat pocket. When people wanted him to believe them, swearing on Emily seemed to do the trick. Maybe he should tell Keith and Lance about that as well as how to keep him entertained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will focus and Lance and Keith working together to try finding Xerxes, having no idea that he's being brought back to them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xerxes is returned home. I suck at summaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been finished since late 2018 but I forgot about the story at the time.

“Dude…this is totally your fault!”

 

“My fault?! You’re the one who left the door open, letting Catinecker into the room to begin with!” Keith shouted back, irritated that Lance was blaming him for their missing charge.

 

“Yeah? Well it’s your fault we even got detention to start with! Who the hell corrects a professor over something as small as pronunciation? So what if it’s actually pronounced ‘ka-ee-jew’ not ‘kay-i-ju’? It was stupid!”

 

“Some of us actually know Japanese and want it spoken properly since it is very easy to pronounce correctly. We only got detention AFTER you piped up with ‘shut up Keith’.”

 

Fuming, both boys turned away from one another. Lance could admit that telling Keith to shut up that loudly hadn’t been ideal, but he’d been trying to stop him from correcting the teacher. It was usually a bad idea. Keith knew he shouldn’t hold it against Lance but a pronunciation complaint coming from someone who also hated a language being butchered really frustrated him. 

 

_I really shouldn’t have said Keith’s respect for Japanese language was stupid. I’d feel pretty much the same if someone said something in Spanish wrong as many times as the teacher said kaiju wrong._

 

Lance was about to apologize when he turned and found Keith looking at the ground but facing him, this usually meant he was going to say something but wasn’t sure how to word it. It was best to let the paler boy go first or he’d clam up, get frustrated or walk off.

 

“I know why you tried to tell me to ‘shut up’ Lance. I’m…sorry I didn’t get it at the time that you were trying to keep me from getting on the professor’s bad side. Thanks…for trying to keep me from getting detention in the first place and you’re right. There was a time and place to correct him and that wasn’t it.”

 

Lance felt flabbergasted and couldn’t quite process what he was hearing. Keith not only apologized and thanked him, he had even said he was right. The blue-eyed teen wasn’t sure how to respond other than to get out what he’d wanted to say.

 

“I’m sorry too. I should have gotten your attention a different way. I’m also sorry I called your correction stupid. I get that languages are important to you. I’d be livid if someone kept mispronouncing something from a language I knew too. Think we can forgive, move on, and find the Baskerville kid?”

 

“Definitely.”

 

The trek back to the Baskerville quarters was thankfully uneventful until they came across the staircase and Lance knocked into them on accident. Lotor stumbled a bit but didn’t lose his hold on Xerxes who fell asleep soon after finishing his chocolate. How the kid could sleep through the jostling he wished he knew.

 

“Lotor? Why do you have Professor Baskerville’s kid? We’ve been looking all over for him.”

 

“Xerxes was scared of whatever cat you two let into their rooms and fled into the pocket dimension. It’s a rare trait that only works for ‘Blessed Children’, children with crimson eyes. This time he came out into Slytherin’s common room. Have you managed to remove the cat?” Lotor asked as he handed Xerxes over to Lance who immediately held him properly so he supported his head.

 

“Keith just caught Catinecker and is taking him back to Allura while looking. I didn’t believe the rumors that he’s a trouble magnet.”

 

“Xerxes isn’t so much a trouble magnet as a trouble _maker_ and only if he’s allowed to grow bored. The easiest way to keep him occupied is to read to him from the Holy Knight series or play ‘duel swordsman’ with him. That and acknowledge he’s smarter than you are. I fear for Hogwarts when he’s old enough to attend as a student.” Lotor replied, thankful that the cat situation was already resolved.

 

“Wait…why do you know so much about this kid?”

 

“Lotor was the first person to have to babysit him.” Gilbert interrupted. The professor looked tired but perfectly calm with Keith behind him.

 

“Lotor learned the hard way about Xerxes’s fear of cats himself at the beginning of the year when he was tricked into taking the blame for another student. Instead of the forest or cleaning duty, I tasked him to watch Xerxes who got lost and ran into a friend’s cat. Lotor is also guilty of smuggling him sweets. You’re both free to go. I knew he’d probably prove too much for you two, but Shiro thought it’d be a good opportunity for you to work together.”

 

From that day onward Keith and Lance had fewer arguments and grudgingly acknowledged each other as friends. Shiro has one less worry for his rag tag group of students but so many more to deal with. Next up? Getting Katie Pidge Holt to stop charming muggle technology to work in Hogwarts just so she could write gay porn about Keith and Lance.

**Author's Note:**

> A note before anyone brings it up: No, I do not hate Lance. Lance is just the more antagonistic of the pair after re-watching the first two seasons. They won't stay snippy at each other the whole fic. They're going to end up bonding down the road.
> 
> Another note: Xerxes is younger than the VLD group but is permitted to be at the school since Gilbert is his father. There will be an actual cameo at some point because I have zero self-control and have already started a fun chapter that may be a side-story in which our troublemaking students may or may not have to babysit him for an evening as detention.


End file.
